Scoring system and personal preference, ...how to do it? Options

[traineraz]

At the time, Donnie, they WERE good, at least compared to everything else available (sHill's, 'Sebor Strong' (now Czech Strong, and never produced by Martin Sebor, they just stole his name), Elixier, Mata Hari . . .). UE being the greatest CO offering wasn't that long ago, either! What, two years, two and a half? Then VdF blew it away, and the Jade distiller proofs, and now the current bevy of commercial (and HG'er - to - commercial) beauties (including but not limited to the fine-tuned Jades), where we have a range to recommend to n00bs, instead of "UE is the only one" or "you must get the VdF"!

Seems like a great time to be a n00b, if ya ask me. With all the flask-sizes and such, there's something of quality for just about any budget, and a good range to choose from!

Maybe that's something missing here . . . an Absinthe Revival timeline of the brand releases and other developments (legalizations, new distillers coming online, key personalities such as Julian Segarra, Martin Sebor, Ted Breaux, 'Deep Forest', 'Tuivel', key authors, and the less-illustrious Kyle Barffather, Radomil sHill, etc.).

N00bs probably don't realize how short the timeline really is, and I imagine I'm not the only one who forgets sometimes. A mere 4-5 years ago, Deva and NS70 were still top of the line, with the possible exception of Segarra 45 (if you liked oak). Back in 1997, I do believe Butty and/or Moonman were the only semi-reliable ways to get anything! Well, other than Opie . . . Glad I missed him!

FSC was the leader for quite a while, until Markus, and then it seemed a fair split until LdF came along.

[hartsmar]

Glad I missed him!

I don't miss him.

[Wild Bill Turkey]

Oswald wouldn't have missed him.

[Jaded Prole]

Hah!

Yes it's a familiar track and it's amazing how quality has escalated in only a few years. What's also amazing is the formation, development and continuing evolution of the community that grown around absinthe.

[bob_chong]

Maybe that's something missing here . . . an Absinthe Revival timeline of the brand releases and other developments (legalizations, new distillers coming online, key personalities such as Julian Segarra, Martin Sebor, Ted Breaux, 'Deep Forest', 'Tuivel', key authors, and the less-illustrious Kyle Barffather, Radomil sHill, etc.).

Great idea. How soon can we expect your report?

Maybe start a new thread with this intention and get everyone to pitch in.

[Absinthesizer]

It's entirely possible that a reviewer could end up giving the same score to both a good-smelling, average-tasting blanche and a great-tasting, extremely complex verte, even though he or she actually greatly preferred the verte.

It's also entirely possible that the earth will be demolished to make way for a hyper-space bypass, but it isn't probable, or even remotely likely, and so far it's only happened in fiction. Likewise with your hypothesis. I believe Nietschke called this "der Hitchhikers Guide-Analogie".

You may laugh and you may scoff, but a situation almost identical to the one I described has already come within one point of occurring in the current buyer's guide: Same reviewer, a blanche and a verte, higher total score to blanche, but higher "overall impression" for verte.

And this situation WILL occur if enough people review Doub's.

[bob_chong]

I think someone suggested that the pre-consumption categories could be made into one subtotal and the actual consumption in another. Sort of the ogling/fondling factor versus actual imbibing. I don't know where aroma would fall, though, since some consider aroma part of taste.

I know Oxy defended the system as being similar to other judging standards, but I still think it odd that only 1/3 of the score is from actually drinking the damned stuff and 2/3 is everything else. Obviously, it is a contentious issue.

Even so, by and large the xit that scores well tends to score fairly high across all categories, more or less, so it probably doesn't make much of a difference. It's nice to see such an impassioned discussion about absinthe though. I was poking through the archives earlier and was amazed at how different things were around here in the olden days. One example, there were a lot of longish posts. There's probably much discussion about why that is, along with other differences. I wouldn't pit it as better/worse, just different. Actually, that would be a discussion I would very much enjoy. If anyone else cares to navel gaze about it, too, speak up, and we could start a thread on that very topic.

[bob_chong]

Artemis said:

…the Buyer's Guide should not be reduced to a set of facts. The more a review reads like Hunter Thompson wrote it, the better I like it. If anybody is intrigued enough to try the product in question, he'll quickly judge for himself what the "facts" are, and that's as it should be. That Buyer's Guide could certainly be improved, but it is unique, just as this forum is, because it is NOT your father's Oldsmobile.

I'd say that the BG still has some of these qualities, after all these years.